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Five Ways to Build Immunity

A strong and healthy immune response can mitigate the effects of an infection. Boosting your immune system is the key to fending off illness when you get it or maybe avoiding it together. The best approach to maintain your immune system is to adopt a healthy lifestyle. 

While bolstering your immunity is easier said than done, several dietary and lifestyle changes may strengthen your body’s natural defenses and help you fight harmful pathogens or disease-causing organisms. Some of them are below.

Sleep In

Yes! Lack of sleep can make you sick. Sleep deprivation is linked to a higher susceptibility to sickness. During sleep, the immune system releases cytokines, some of which help promote sleep. Cytokines are also needed to fight against infection, inflammation and ward off stress. Sleep deprivation leads to a reduction in antibodies and cells necessary to fight infection. According to Mayo Clinic, adults should aim to get seven or more hours of sleep each night, while teens need 8–10 hours and younger children and infants up to 14 hours. Keeping a stable sleep schedule, making your bedroom comfortable and free of disruptions, following a relaxing pre-bed routine, and building healthy habits during the day can all contribute to excellent sleep hygiene.

Consume Whole Foods

A healthy diet gives your body the essential nutrients to fight off germs. Whole plant foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes are rich in micro-nutrients and antioxidants. There is a wealth of evidence that suggests that what we eat matters. The antioxidants in plants can help decrease inflammation by battling free radicals. The fiber consumed from plant foods increases your gut microbiome. A robust gut microbiome is essential for a stronger immune system.

Don’t Be Afraid of Healthy Fats

It is vital to consume healthy fats to receive positive advantages for our immune health. Healthy fats help reduce inflammation and fight infections.  Many plant-based foods are rich in fatty acids, linoleic, and alpha-linolenic acid, with an optimal omega-3/omega-6 ratio. Some examples include; hemp seeds, walnuts, chia seeds, dark leafy greens, spinach, arugula, and romaine. Eating healthy fats will provide the body with the energy and essential fatty acids to optimize immune function. 

Get in Moderate Exercise

It’s true that exercise increases your immunity to certain illnesses. Research shows that frequent exercise reduces systemic inflammatory activity and improves aspects of immune function, leading to alterations in an aging immune system’s classical biomarkers. Examples of exercise include 30-minutes a day of brisk walking, hiking, a dance class, and cycling. So, wherever you are, get moving now.

Reduce Stress

According to the Mayo Clinic, the stress hormone cortisol can subdue your immune system. While it might be impractical to let go of stress completely, managing stress in a healthy way is possible. Creating some white space in your day and meditating can help with stress. Meditation lowers your heart rate and blood pressure and reduces anxiety. Watching a funny show or just laughing with friends and family is a great way to relieve stress. 

Our bodies are regularly exposed to invaders and toxins like mutated cells, bacteria, and viruses. We can make changes in our lifestyle to toughen our immune system. Including exercise, consuming a healthy diet, meditating, and practicing good sleep hygiene can go a long way to protect us from illnesses and strengthen our immune system. It might seem a lot to do right off the bat but making small changes can go a long way. Keep adding these lifestyle changes to your routine until they become a habit. Soon you will have a robust immune system to guard you against diseases.


Aesha is the founder and head coach at Tone and Strengthen. She holds a Master’s in Exercise Science from Concordia University and has earned multiple credentials from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, Athletics and Fitness Association of America, and other NCCA accredited fitness associations. Aesha is a Master Instructor for MadDogg Athletics, Spinning® program and offers FREE workouts and healthy lifestyle tips on the Tone and Strengthen’s IG page

running-bleachers

Kick up the Cardio

Currently, health clubs offer a variety of cardio and strength options. They offer a plethora of equipment and classes yet attrition remains high. By combining the science of cardio and strength training with a motivated and energetic instructor new programming combining….

kettlebell-sneakers

The Three R’s: Reset. Reload. Reinforce.

Before you can begin checking the boxes off above a baseline needs to be established. What is the best way to set a baseline that isn’t time-consuming? A Physical Therapist can test physical capacity, but will that give them the total picture? What if you are a health care provider such as a Massage Practitioner or a Chiropractor, or a doctor of an individual who wants to start an exercise program? How do you set-up a baseline of indicators to capture dysfunction at the level of the movement pattern, not just muscles/tissues that are weak or injured?

The quickest and easiest way I know of is a Functional Movement Screening and a Movement Assessment Screening. It is a ranking and grading system to measure asymmetries. If there is a pain in any of the movement patterns the activity is stopped and a referral is made. As a Functional Movement Specialist, I can do the movement screening with a printed report and corrective strategy exercises to reinforce quality movement patterns. This establishes a baseline to work from and retesting is done periodically.

The way this effective approach works: Each box needs to be checked off before you move to the next box.

The meaning of the three Rs is…

Reset

When a patient/client goes into a Physical Therapist for treatment, or Massage Practitioner for manual manipulation of muscles/tissues, or Chiropractor for a muscular skeletal adjustment. After the procedure the next step is usually, rest, ice, maybe some stretches and to review or start an exercise program. Ok, if this is the standard procedure followed, what is missing from this picture?

Reinforce

This next step is where I as a Fitness Trainer am highly effective, first with myself and now others. I took my twisted muscular-skeletal frame from a seat belt injury and started retraining the correct movement patterns by reinforcement. It takes about 7,000 repetitions of a movement pattern before it becomes spontaneous. What do I mean by reinforce? Reinforce means you either go back to what you were doing with the same faulty movement pattern and setting yourself up for needing another reset, instead of going in for a maintenance appointment. Keeping the cycle of dysfunction and asymmetries going that lead to dysfunction, pain and injury.

Reload

A combination of corrective exercises and conditioning work, such as using supersets to establish better hip hinging and then doing deadlifts, and then maybe add some kettlebell swings.

Reload the frame with the right resistance that maintains the right movement pattern exercises. I use a wide variety of tools based on the client’s needs and preferences.

Reset, reinforce and reload can be applied to both rehabilitation and exercise. In rehabilitation, Physical Therapist/Health Care Provider is working with pain and dysfunction. Exercise professionals work with dysfunction by setting up a baseline and reinforce correctives and conditioning to help prepare the individuals to return to a full active life.

I have successfully retrained my body after a seat belt injury that caused asymmetry imbalances, and now successfully use these remedial corrective strategies with my clients. I give my clients enough practice to learn how to move efficiently, and believe in open communication, taking after hour calls and making home visits.

Move well, move often, stay fit, live!


The Kettlebell Lady – Leanne Wylet, BA, ACE -NCCA, specializes in Orthopedic Exercise, Functional Movement, Hard Style/High Intensity Kettlebell Fitness, Silver Sneakers FLEX & Tai Chi Instructor works with the aging population. She has come back from a seat built injury that left her disabled and two major illnesses; her body is now restored. Taking the skills she’s developed, plus academic training, she works with individuals in all walks of life from youth to those in their golden years. Visit her website, kettlebelllady.com

wine-glasses

Alcohol and Your Health – Cheers! or Not?

Depending with whom you speak, alcohol can be a villain or it can be a hero. We have long known that alcohol can help reduce the stress of everyday life, and even relaxes our most tightly wound friends and associates. Recent data also suggests that fairly regular alcohol ingestion is actually good for your heart.

This is probably one of the reasons that many European countries, where wine is a normal part of everyday life, have significantly lower rates of heart disease despite relatively high-fat diets. The protective effects may come from substances called flavonoids and also antioxidants that are found in alcohol, especially wine. It also can increase HDL levels (the good cholesterol) and lower the risk of blood clots by slightly “thinning” your blood (anti-platelet effect). Red wine also has resveratrol, a compound that has been shown to possibly reduce lung damage in patients with chronic bronchitis and emphysema, by lowering levels of interleukin 8, a chemical that causes lung inflammation. It has also been touted to have life extension (i.e. longevity) and disease-fighting capabilities but more research is needed.

Too bad it’s not that easy, i.e. “drink to your heart’s content.” There is a dark side. Even the American Heart Association cautions people NOT to start drinking if they do not already drink alcohol. For many, alcohol can be deadly. It can be a cellular toxin, with brain cells and liver cells particularly susceptible. Alcoholism is a serious disease, with some predisposed from a genetic standpoint. For them, there is no safe amount. It is also never safe or recommended during pregnancy because of the harm it can cause to the developing baby. Alcohol can be dangerous for those with certain medical conditions such as diabetes and liver ailments and also has been implicated in the development of certain cancers. Also many alcoholic beverages pack a significant amount of calories which contribute to obesity risk and much of the obesity epidemic.

Alcohol also kills when mixed with driving. I believe we will see tighter restrictions regarding the legality of drinking and driving especially in terms of acceptable blood-alcohol content. Recent scientific data suggests that we actually loose coordination as well as other important motor and cognitive skills essential for safe driving, even while we are within the legal limits of blood alcohol levels. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in conjunction with The University of Iowa, is doing research on driving under the influence using a three ton, $81 million DUI simulator. This simulator puts the drunk driver in “real life” road situations using high resolution 3-D images, and monitors reaction times and other motorist behaviors. Hopefully studies like this will help provide safer guidelines for us. I am fairly certain that study will have no trouble finding volunteers. There are even commercially available simulators (drunk driving and texting while driving) for educational purposes.

Being an orthopedic surgeon, who has spent plenty of time in the ER, I can state without hesitation that impaired driving kills, and kills many, dramatically changing lives (even innocent ones), be it alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs. Ditto for cell phone distracted driving. All preventable.

So, what is the right answer for you in terms of alcohol? The key, like so many other things in life, is balance and moderation. Weighing risks with rewards and being responsible, not only to yourself, but to those around you.

Poison or potion? It is up to you. Remember, moderation is the key. Check with your doctor to see if there is a place for alcohol in your path to better health.

Originally published on the Huffington Post. Reprinted with permission from Dr. DiNubile.


Nicholas DiNubile, MD is an Orthopedic Surgeon, Sports Medicine Doc, Team Physician & Best Selling Author. He is dedicated to keeping you healthy in body, mind & spirit. Follow him MD on Twitter: twitter.com/drnickUSA

senior fit

The Case for Fitness & Healthy Aging

An important principle that has emerged throughout my writing on “healthy aging” has been the issue of fitness and the role being fit plays in preventing illness and injury, yielding a fulfilling and vibrant life – a “life well lived”. The point of healthy aging is to be in a position as we grow older “to do what we want when we want without getting hurt”. I have always believed that my level of fitness would yield positive results as I got older emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually – and so far I have been proven right in my own life. The “fitness lifestyle” is a consciousness issue just as healthy aging is as well. I make choices everyday that are designed to enhance my ability to live the way I choose. This always includes high intensity, focused training which will (hopefully) prepare me for the challenging years ahead.

Speaking, traveling, teaching, program design, consulting, writing and other activities that I wish to do in my future will require focus, high energy, inspiration, imagination, and physical stamina and endurance. The ability to train the way I am now will translate into the future actions that will yield the result I envision for audiences in the years ahead. Planning for a future that requires me to be prepared to do my work at a high level will also demand that I be as fit as I can be in order to give me the strength to help as many people as I possibly can – while I can. This is my mission – and my purpose.

This article is about something I think about EVERY day. Each of my actions, decisions, and thoughts are applied to the outcome that I seek with every step I take in becoming stronger, faster, quicker, more powerful, balanced, imaginative, flexible and skilled. My purpose is to be able to PERFORM at a high level even as I approach my 70’s and this is the point of my plan – and these articles in this series. How fit are you today for the future you envision for yourself? Does your vision inspire you to reach beyond your grasp? Does it “pull you forward” so that you will take the actions necessary to enable and empower you for the journey ahead? Only you can answer this question! Do it now!

Power, speed, quickness, strength, endurance, balance & flexibility:  the “core” of healthy aging and growing old – not old.

I think of training in terms of performance and so much of fitness today is “gimmicks” – programs designed for the “few” in America who are NOT the obese, overweight, poorly trained, seniors, and youth. The “fatting” of America does NOT include practical programming on TV, the internet – or anywhere for that matter – that appeals to the average, untrained individual struggling just to live a ‘moderately’ happy life. I see this huge “hole” in our society everyday when I go out into the world where the “connection” between being fit and “regular” people is NEVER being made. To most of the world, fitness – or becoming fit – means acquiring a gym membership with all the “hassles” that implies and THAT isn’t healthy or inspiring at ALL!

I worked in the Nautilus and Bally’s systems as a trainer for over ten years and I never once saw the effort being truly made to help people “realistically” ACHIEVE anything. The world outside the gym is a giant “blank” for over two thirds of the population. The only thing I see that is visible today is elementary lifestyle “advice” on Dr. Oz and other related sophomoric network shows that really change nothing. The other major factor in the sales “pitch” to America on fitness comes in the form of “infomercials” that literally “sucker” people into buying USELESS stuff that will never really help them – EVER! The latest gimmick is the “abdominal belt” that will ‘melt” fat away with just 10 minutes a day! This is just the latest in the same old scam – “sell them anything and make a buck in the process!” What a disgrace and a shame that we have resorted to “hucksterism” in this country in order to sell the virtues of being fit! Jack Lalanne’s legacy has almost been completely forgotten today and I want to make sure I play my role in carrying the work he started so long ago forward with me. At least he TAUGHT simple exercises to people of all ages in the 50’s and 60’s with passion AND led them every step of the way during his shows. Those days are long gone!

When we think of helping people to become fit and healthy, we must always remember to train ourselves FIRST so that we can inspire others to do the same. I will not TELL anyone anything because for each of us our understanding and perspectives are different – just as each of us is different. I will always side with “being the example of the change I wish to see in the world” – the theme of my first article in this series. How do I retain my skill level with the “seven keys” of fitness highlighted above? I maintain them – and will elevate myself to higher levels of performance in the future – through my weekly weight training program, running 40 to 50 miles a week, stretching, and meditation. This dedication to fitness will hopefully allow me to do what I want, when I want, without injury and live with joy the active future of service I am envisioning for myself. I believe that with each passing day we are ALL falling ‘behind the fitness curve’ in life – whether we are training or not – and it is imperative that we translate our passion for being fit to others through our example. If we CAN’T DO IT, WE SHOULDN’T BE TEACHING IT!

Conclusion

My primary commitment to myself each day is to NEVER GIVE UP. If I am not sick or injured, I am training – training for my life to come and the role I have chosen for myself as “an agent of change in the world”. Each of us MUST decide what it is WE STAND FOR so that others can be inspired by our example. Jack LaLanne taught me through his example – as John Wooden did – that it is WHO WE ARE on the inside that will be the ‘key’ to inspiring and encouraging others to reach beyond their current grasp and strive for more than they ever dreamed possible. I am convinced every day by what I see in the world that what we have to offer the ‘many’ is desperately needed now more than ever. If we do not take up this challenge, who will? When will the REAL change come? It will only come when we change ourselves (on the inside – healthy aging is an inside job, remember?) and that is the greatest challenge that we will ALL face in life. It is worth fighting for this principle every day of our lives. Will you take it upon yourself TODAY and join me in this “journey of change” – and touch millions of lives in the process? I hope your answer is a resounding YES!

Article reprinted with permission from Nicholas Prukop. 


Nicholas Prukop is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer & a Health Coach, a fitness professional with over 25 years of experience whose passion for health and fitness comes from his boyhood in Hawaii where he grew up a swimmer on Maui. He found his calling in writing his first book “Healthy Aging & You: Your Journey to Becoming Happy, Healthy & Fit” and since then he has dedicated himself to empowering, inspiring and enabling people of all ages to reach for the best that is within them and become who they are meant to be – happy, healthy and fit – and be a part of a world where each person can contribute their own unique gifts to life.

Stressed Man Working At Desk In Busy Creative Office

5 Surprising Ways That Your Job Influences Your Health

Different aspects of your life can affect your health. Exercise, food intake, and sleep are prevalent factors. Unknowingly, your job also affects your mental and physical health. You must consider it if you wish to live a healthy lifestyle.

You spend a majority of your waking hours at work. Several studies have pointed out that the work environment affects your overall well-being and relationships with other people. Let’s take a look at some of them:

Work Overload

Overworking can have adverse effects that include mood disorders, debilitating stress, and illness. If you have little control over your workload, you may experience burnout. According to the American Institute of Stress, 80% of employees and managers face stress at work that results from competition between coworkers, tense working environments, and a feeling of walking on eggshells.

The World Health Organization describes burnout as a type of chronic work stress depleting energy and diminishing efficacy. 50% of workers quit their jobs because of it. You tend to mentally disengage from your coworkers and become increasingly adverse about them. Cynicism with extended working hours drains your joy about working and increases exhaustion.

Depression and anxiety are also prevalent when you overwork yourself. Your moodiness can affect your relationships with your colleagues and supervisors. Overworking can also increase overall work dissatisfaction and heighten anxiety, and you also experience low self-esteem and have feelings of inadequacy. Your feelings of helplessness and restlessness can make you slip into depression.

Lack of Physical Activity

If you work in an office setup, your lack of physical activity can result in several health problems. Your sedentary lifestyle can lead to muscle-related pain, fatigue, and diabetes. You are also susceptible to eye issues if you stay glued to your computer every day.

You often get lost in work and spend hours in your seat. If you suffer from constant backache, you now know why. Sitting in your office chair for extended periods can strain and overstretch your back muscles.

Hating Your Job

If you love your work, you are fortunate because you can pay your bills doing things you like to do. Unfortunately, if you hate what you do but stay in your job to pay the bills, you become unhappy and eventually suffer from stress and exhaustion.

The University of Manchester released the results of its study about poor-quality jobs. According to them, staying in a job you have can wreak havoc on your mental health. It is even worse than being jobless. A passive-aggressive boss, hostile co-employees, and mind-numbing tasks, together with spending more than 40 hours per week in your office, can worsen your situation.

If you are dealing with a mental health issue, you can experience stress, burnout, and exhaustion, especially if you cannot find other jobs or feel obligated to stay because you have bills to pay. Your loss of autonomy and feeling of indebtedness can be emotionally draining.

You feel stuck because your mental health issues do not allow you to find your way out. You do not have the motivation to search for alternatives. You feel helpless and hopeless to change your situation. Getting out of the trapped mindset needs a courageous effort.

Long Commute

The workday starts and ends with your commute. If you live in a large city, your commute takes longer. You become less happy and experience burnout quicker. Your daily commute is also a health risk as commute distance and time continually increase. As a commuter, you spend more than a total of 80 minutes getting to and from work.

The situation worsens if you must commute from one city to another. It increases your blood pressure. You experience heightened cortisol and adrenaline levels that raise your risk of a heart attack. Respiratory issues and air pollution exposure can also have acute effects on your health.

If you stay in your car for an hour’s drive to work, you are adding one more hour to your sedentary lifestyle. Lack of physical activity can lead to diabetes and obesity. Aside from the physical manifestations, an extended commute can also lead to listlessness, boredom, anger, and stress.

Although you can deal with them, you suffer from long-term chronic stress if such moments occur daily. Driving through traffic can result in expending more mental and physical energies that can be exhausting.

Interpersonal Relationships at Work

Establishing close connections with your coworkers is healthy. You are less likely to feel burnout and become happier if you have more camaraderie with your colleagues. Belonging to a group increases your sense of purpose, meaning, affinity, agency, and control. You become competent and productive at work because of your identification with your company.

However, if you have negative work interactions or experience bad bosses and bullying, your health can suffer. Loneliness can result in your untimely demise. Therefore, you must connect with other people in your company. If you can find connectivity with your bosses or coworkers, you can search elsewhere.


 

bone-health-question-osteoporosis

Osteoporosis: A quick primer for everyone over 50

When you think about staying healthy with age, your bones may not be at the top of your concerns.  Age-related bone loss is not generally as obvious as changes in other areas such as our vision or our muscle strength. But a staggering 40% of Americans over age 50 have low bone density, and many people don’t realize they have a problem until they actually break a bone.  This will happen to over half of women over age 50 at least once in their lifetime.  And despite the common assumption that men don’t need to worry about osteoporosis, a quarter of men over age 50 will suffer an osteoporosis-related break in their lifetime as well.  In fact, men are more likely to suffer a fracture from osteoporosis than they are to get prostate cancer.  

Bone fractures after age 50 can be serious and disabling.  And with a quarter of all hip fractures in people over 50 resulting in death within one year, bone health should be a serious concern for everyone as we grow older.1

So what happens to our bones as we age, and what steps can we take keep our bones healthy?

Bone density changes with age

We often think of bones as hard and lifeless, but they are actually living and changing structures that are constantly reforming and recycling themselves, taking away old minerals and replacing them with new minerals.  Calcium and magnesium play a key role in the growth and formation of bone, helping us achieve peak bone mass between the ages of 18 and 30. The more bone you have at the time of peak bone mass, the less likely you are to break a bone or get osteoporosis later in life.  After you reach peak bone mass, the balance between bone formation and bone loss might start to change.  You may start to slowly lose more bone than you form. In midlife, bone loss usually speeds up in both men and women. For most women, bone loss increases after menopause, when estrogen levels drop sharply.  In fact, in the five to seven years after menopause, women can lose up to 20 percent or more of their bone density.  The result is that bone becomes weaker and more fragile, and more likely to break from even minor impacts.  

How you can help keep bones healthy

Eating a healthy and varied diet with adequate vitamin D3, calcium and magnesium for bone formation is essential.  You can find recommendations for your age and gender on the National Osteoporosis Foundation’s website (nof.org).  

Exercise is also critical.  Strength training to keep muscles strong can help limit falls, which in turn can help prevent resulting fractures.  Current exercise recommendations are to do at least 15-30 minutes daily of high impact, weight bearing exercises such as dancing, hiking, jogging/running, jumping rope, stair climbing or tennis.  Low-impact weight-bearing exercises can also help keep muscles strong and are a good alternative if you can’t do high-impact. 

Smoking and alcohol also impact bone health.  Avoid smoking and limit alcohol intake to less than three drinks a day.  

Talk to your doctor

There are many additional risk factors for osteoporosis, such as ethnicity, diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and medicines you may be taking.  So it’s important to discuss your risk with your primary care physician BEFORE you have a fracture.  If warranted, your doctor may recommend a test called a bone density study or DXA scan.  If you are diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia (a condition of low bone density pre-osteoporosis), your physician may recommend changes to your diet, supplementation, and possibly medications. 

For more information to help you take charge of your bone health, check out the National Osteoporosis Foundation at www.nof.org.  


Naomi L. Albertson M.D. is Board Certified by the American Academy of Family Physicians and specializes in the non-surgical management of musculoskeletal problems, sports injuries, concussions, and the treatment of osteopenia and osteoporosis.  

References

senior-couple-walking

Key Exercises and Training for Aging Successfully and Living Your Best Life

As the years roll by, nothing has become clearer to me than the fact that aging successfully requires a lot of work. When it comes to our bodies, nothing rings truer than, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” This is particularly true not only when it comes to preventing declines arising from disuse, but also when trying to slow down the normal impacts of aging. 

The function of our bodily systems peaks at around age 25 and declines over time. As a result, your maximal aerobic capacity decreases, even with constant training, reflective of declines in maximal heart rate. In addition, your balance ability gets worse (particularly after age 40), bones get thinner, muscles atrophy, reflexes get slower, and recovery from workouts takes longer. Aging is not for sissies, but it beats the alternative!

The good news is that it is possible to slow the rapid decline of these systems by changing how you live your life. By including regular physical training, better nutrition, adequate sleep, and stress management, you can delay or prevent a lot of normal aging and reverse decrements caused by inactivity, neglect, disuse, and abuse of our bodies. The only caveat is that we can’t control or reverse neurological decline.

It starts to seem like preventing additional declines from inactivity or inadequate training gets to be a full-time job as you get older and you have to keep adding in additional exercises, stretches, and activities. A fitness instructor recently confirmed that it’s a bit like playing whack-a-mole: fix one weak area or physical problem and another one pops up. Welcome to aging!

So what can you do to live your best life both physically and mentally? I would suggest adding at least these (and many other) critical exercises to your weekly routine:

Cardiorespiratory fitness: Cardio workouts with faster training intervals

In addition to doing regular cardio activities like walking, cycling, and swimming, add in some faster intervals into any workout, such as walking faster for 10 to 60 seconds at a time during your normal walk or doing a hill profile on a cardio training machine. Doing so will increase your fitness more and improve insulin sensitivity for longer. It’s also fine to do high-intensity interval training (HIIT) at least once a week, but start out slowly and progress slowly to prevent injuries and demotivation. Not all your workouts should be equally intense, and varying your aerobic activities also lowers the risk of getting injured.

Muscular strength and endurance: Resistance training exercises

It is easy to work on your muscle strength and muscle endurance by doing a series of resistance exercises targeting your major muscle groups (in the upper body, lower body, and core areas). Pick at least 8 to 10 exercises that cover all these areas and do them at least two to three days per week. It’s fine to use your own body weight, household items (like full water bottles), hand weights, or resistance bands as resistance—you don’t have to have access to a gym or leave home. Adding in these exercises to your weekly routine is critical to aging well and being able to live independently throughout your entire lifespan.

Balance ability: Standing on one leg at a time (and other balance exercises)

This simple exercise involves standing on one leg for a minute, switching to the other leg, and repeating. Have something you can grab onto nearby, such as the back of a chair. You can hold on with both hands, one hand, one finger, or nothing as you get better at balancing. To challenge yourself, move your free leg in different directions (e.g., out front, to the side, behind you) while standing on the other one, or practice standing on uneven surfaces, such as a cushion. If your balance ability is really getting to be an issue, include other balance training activities each week as well.

Joint mobility and cartilage health: Stretches for all your joints

Do a series of flexibility exercises that stretch your joints in all their normal directions to maintain and increase their range of motion. With aging, we are all losing flexibility and diabetes can accelerate this loss when extra glucose sticks to joint surfaces (cartilage) over time and makes them more brittle. Try to stretch at least two to three days per week. The older you get, the longer you should hold each stretch (up to a minute on each one), and you may need to add in specialized stretches (such as for your calves or hips) to really work tighter joints to enhance your mobility and balance ability.

Bone strength: Weight-bearing activities and/or resistance training exercises

Your bones stay stronger when you put normal stress on them regularly, such as carrying your own body weight around when walking or jogging or doing resistance exercises with your upper body or carrying grocery bags. If you stay sedentary, your bones will lose minerals faster and get thinned out more quickly, and non-weight-bearing activities like swimming and cycling just don’t have the ability to build bone as much as weight-bearing ones. Try to adequately stress your bones to stimulate the bone mineral density to stay higher—at least two to three days per week.

Basic mobility and self-care: Wall sits and/or sit-to-stand exercise

Until you start to get older, you seldom think about how difficult it can be to get up out of a chair or off the sofa. Many older people get heavier and weaker and start to have trouble doing these basic maneuvers, which are critical to living well independently. To improve your ability, practice doing wall sits, which involves sitting against a wall with your hips and knees at 90 degree angles and your feet straight below your knees for as long as you can. This exercise will also help prevent knee pain and problems. Alternatively, you can do sit-to-stand exercises where you sit on the edge of an armless chair and practice getting up without using your arms. (This is also often called the “getting up from the toilet” exercise.)

Sexual enjoyment (and incontinence): Kegel exercises

Also known as pelvic floor muscle training, Kegel exercises can help with stress incontinence (i.e., urinating a little when sneezing or laughing) and normal incontinence (both urinary or fecal), and they may enhance your sexual pleasure to boot. The easiest way to identify the pelvic floor muscles is to stop your urine flow while urinating or tighten the muscles that keep you from passing gas. To do Kegels, imagine you are sitting on a marble and pretend you’re lifting it up by tightening your pelvic muscles and holding them contracted for as long as you can; do this a few times in a row. When your muscles get stronger, you can do these exercises while sitting, standing, or walking. Both men and women can and should do Kegel exercises regularly.


Sheri R. Colberg, PhD, is the author of The Athlete’s Guide to Diabetes: Expert Advice for 165 Sports and Activities (the newest edition of Diabetic Athlete’s Handbook). She is also the author of Diabetes & Keeping Fit for Dummies, co-published by Wiley and the ADA. A professor emerita of exercise science from Old Dominion University and an internationally recognized diabetes motion expert, she is the author of 12 books, 34 book chapters, and over 420 articles. She was honored with the 2016 American Diabetes Association Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award. Contact her via her websites (SheriColberg.com and DiabetesMotion.com).